Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects such as Chevron's Gorgon are set to go ahead despite soaring costs, as high oil prices and supply worries make buyers like China more willing to pay up.

Analysts say other LNG projects, such as Woodside's Browse and Oil Search's Papua New Guinea ventures, which are facing similar cost pressures, are also poised to move ahead as global demand for the cleaner-burning fuel continues to soar.
Buyers such as PetroChina  may show an increased willingness to pay high long-term prices and take minority stakes in LNG projects, helping to bear some of the risks and upping the competition with Asia's top LNG importers Japan and South Korea.
"There is a huge increase in cost but operators would have already priced that in sales contracts," said John Harris, director of global LNG at Cambridge Energy Research Associates.
"All that is required for a project to move forward is to have buyers who are willing to pay for the contracts. And if you look at recent gas deals, people are very willing to pay."
Gorgon, which contains 40 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas resources, also got a fillip from Royal Dutch Shell's 20-year sales deal with PetroChina.